Letter to the Hamburg Historical Museum [Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte]. Regarding the Banning of Jews from Visiting the Museum. Hamburg, December 9, 1941

Source Description

On December 9, 1941, Alfred Borchardt, a Hamburg Jew, wrote a letter to the Hamburg Historical Museum  Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte. In it he addresses several aspects of the National Socialist policy of persecution directed at the Jews. First, he enquires about the possibility of allowing Jews to visit museums despite the fact that they were banned from doing so and even makes a suggestion for organizing their visits. The second aspect relates to valuable (historic) objects relevant to Hamburg’s history (so-called Hamburgensien), which, according to Borchardt, had been owned by Jews before they were deported. Finally, he points out that when these objects were sold at auction, they could be acquired by laymen. Alfred Borchardt signed the letter with his name, including the addition “Israel” and his identification card number. At the top right, a stamp shows that the letter was received by the museum on December 10, 1941. At the bottom left, museum director Lauffer marked in lilac ink that the letter was to be filed.
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Recommended Citation

Letter to the Hamburg Historical Museum [Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte]. Regarding the Banning of Jews from Visiting the Museum. Hamburg, December 9, 1941 (translated by Insa Kummer), edited in: Key Documents of German-Jewish History, <https://dx.doi.org/10.23691/jgo:source-152.en.v1> [March 28, 2024].